How wrong could she have been
by In-My-Head-749
Summary: What would have happened if Carla didn't phone Maria that night. How different would her life have been...
1. Chapter 1

**Right so, this is a what if thing, what if Carla hadn't phoned Maria that night. I know this is really short but it's one of them prologue thingies, my actual chapters will be longer. So, please review..**

Prologue

Carla lay in the middle of the floor, knees to her chest. Tears ran down her cheeks, what had just happened? She knew what had just happened. She managed to drag herself across the floor to her bag, she found her phone and ran down the list of people, until she found Maria. Carla was about to call her when a thought crossed her mind. She hadn't believed Maria when she told her what Frank had tried to do, why should she believe her. After a moments hesitation she turned the phone off and threw it back into her handbag. She couldn't tell anyone, she didn't want to, she didn't need to.

How wrong could she have been...

**Like I said really short, but chapters WILL be longer.**

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	2. Mrs Foster

**Thanks massivealikingfan :) :P**

**P.S Michelle came back for the wedding and her and Ciaran are still together because I love their characters :) :P**

**P.P.S Michelle don't work at Underworld**

**P.P.P.S Dev's does frozen food if he doesn't already and him and Sunita are back together.**

**P.P.P.P.S Leanne and Peter are still together**

Mrs Foster

There was a knock on the office door, Carla plastered a smile to her face before calling "Come in."

Hayley was at the door, "Ms Con...Foster." She stopped herself calling Carla Ms Connor by habit. Carla flinched inwardly as she heard that, Mrs Foster, she hated being Mrs Foster, being Mrs Gordon was better than being Mrs Foster, now that was saying something.

"Yes Hayley, how can I help you?" She asked, keeping her head down, scanning some paperwork.

"Well, we have finished the Mcknee's order, is there anything else we can do?" Hayley asked.

"I don't think we have anymore stuff for you to do today," Carla said, checking the work schedule, "Nope, you can all have an early one today, see you tomorrow."

Carla watched Hayley tell the girls(and Sean and Kirk), that they could leave early. She made sure they were all gone before she collapsed into her chair, putting her head in her hands.

She had been married to Frank for just over four months now, and everyday of it was like a living hell. She had told no on eabout what he had done to her, what he was doing to her.

She hung about at the factory for a couple of hours, until there was no way she could stay any longer. When she got back to the flat Frank was sitting infront of the TV, with a can of beer in his hand.

"Hey babe, how was work?" He asked.

"Yeah, it was fine." Carla replied, on the outside Frank was a charming gentleman, on the inside, he was a monster.

"I fancy a pizza, do we have any?" Frank asked.

Carla went straight to the fridge, fearing the consequences if she didn't. There was no pizza. "We don't have any in, should I pop down to Dev's and get some?" She asked.

"Yeah, why not, and get yourself a bottle of red while you're down there." Frank said.

"Ok, be back in ten." Carla said, closing the door behind her, thankful to be out of that hell hole.

* * *

She left Dev's and was about to head back to the flat when she heard someone calling, "Carla, Carla!"

She turned her head to see Michelle tottering towards her on high heels.

"Hey Chelle." Carla said, hoping her best friend would not keep her talking for long.

"Hey Car, how do you feel about a girls night out, we haven't been out in ages." Michelle asked.

Carla sighed, she would do anything to go on a girls night out with Michelle but knew she couldn't. "Sorry, cooking for Frank, maybe another time." Carla said brightly.

"Come on Car, you haven't come out in ages." Michelle whined.

"Look, I know, I promise I will come out with you soon." Carla said, hoping to get back to the flat soon, otherwise Frank would be angry.

"You always say that though," Michelle said, "You've said it every week practically since you've been married."

Carla let out an exasperated sigh, "I know Chelle, sorry, I've got to go." She said, speeding off in the direction of her flat.

* * *

Michelle stared after her friend as she walked off, practically running. She had changed, ever since she had been married to Frank she had changed. Michelle couldn't say exactly what had changed, but something had, and Michelle wanted to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

When Carla got back in she had been gone 20 minutes.

"Where have you been?" Frank asked, venom in his voice.

"I'm really sorry, Michelle came over and we had a quick chat." Carla explained, hoping he would listen this time.

"I don't believe you." Frank spat.

"Please Frank, I'm telling the truth." Carla insisted, but he didn't listen.

He grabbed Carla's arm tightly so she couldn't get free. "Please." She whispered, staring into his angry eyes. She saw her raise his hand and closed her eyes, preparing herself for what was coming next.

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	3. bruises

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**I've got another Corrie story at the moment called 'The young girl' It's about Carla's daughter that she put up for adoption coming to find her, but she has a secret. Please read it if you haven't already :) :P**

Bruises

Carla made sure Frank wasn't coming back before standing up weakly from the corner she had been cowering in. Her legs wobbled but these beatings were becoming like a normal part of everyday life, she was getting used to them.

She always used to wonder why women in this situation didn't get themselves out of there, but now she was one of them. She didn't know why she didn't get out of there, she just couldn't. She was scared, Carla hated admitting she was scared, but there was no other way of putting it. She was scared that Frank would come and find her and hurt her even more than he already was, make everything even worse.

She limped to the bedroom, to the bed she shared with him, and started to slowly undress herself. Peeling her shirt off her painful ribs, the healing bruises surely made worse by tonights meeting.

Black and purple marks littered her arms and thighs, making her skin look old and gross. There was a huge red mark coming up across her back, a red mark that would be a dark mark tomorrow.

She wiped her make up off, wiped off all that was covering the black eye she had got 5 days ago when she took too long in the shower. She pulled her pyjama's on and lay down on her bed, careful not to lay on any new or old bruises, which was quite hard.

She pulled a photo out of her draw, it was old and battered, worn from the nights she lay holding on. It was a picture of Paul and Liam, the two men she had loved the most, the two brothers, both of them were gone now. Maybe if they were still here, she wouldn't be in this position now.

She knew she couldn't think like that, it hurt her, the images of them that were burnt into her memory made her want to explode. If Frank knew she had this photo he would explode. He had made her get rid of anything that belonged to Paul or Liam, everything, except this. She was forsed to burn her photos, but she saved this one, she couldn't let it go, she couldn't let everything go.

She didn't know how long she had been lying there, drowning in memories, when the door slammed, signalling the fact Frank was home. She quickly stuffed the photo into her draw and pretended to be asleep when the bedroom door swung oipen and Frank came in. She could smell the alchohol on him from where she was laying.

She stayed perfectly still while he stumbled around, getting ready for bed. By the time he fell onto the soft matress, he was practically passed out already.

Carla hated it when he came home like this, he would have a big hangover in the morning and take it out on her, she hated him. She hated everything about him, the way he looked, the way he spoke, the way he acted like nothing bad had ever happened.

She hated herself too, for letting herself be trapped in this situation in the first place, she should've just got out and left quietly that night, never to be heard or seen of in Weatherfield again, but no. She had been her usual stubborn self and made herself believe that she could handle it, that she could handle him.

She knew deep down she couldn't though, she knew that now.

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	4. Rob

**Next chapter :) :P**

Rob

When Carla woke up the next morning Frank was still sleeping. She quietly got out of bed, wincing in pain as she stood up. Her body was aching all over, she was black and blue.

She managed to get herself dressed, applying many layers of make up to visible bruises, doing her best to hide them. She wouldn't be able to hide them from herself though. They were always going to be in her mind, they were never going to be gone.

She tried to bend over to pick her bag up but the pain in her back made it practically impossible. By the time she stood back up tears were running down her cheeks, she was in unimaginable pain, a pain that no one could make better.

She made her way into work, limping slightly. When she was there she opened the cupboard and got out her secret stash of booze. She poured herself some vodka and downed it in one.

She had to be careful not to drink too much, otherwise her employee's might notice and report back to Frank, that would not be good. She jumped as she heard the doors swing open and the babble and footsteps of her workers making their way to their machines.

Carla gasped in agony as she stood up and walked to the door, "Right guys," She called, "We're working on the pretty thing order's now, we have quite a bit of time for this one but I still don't want you slacking off, understand?"

They all nodded, so Carla went back into the office, knowing that when she closed the doors they would all start gossiping like usual.

* * *

Carla had sat doing paperwork all morning and now everyone was on their lunch break she grabbed her bottle of booze and poured herself some more.

She swallowed it down and was about to pour another one when she heard the office door slam. She turned round in shock to see a familiar face.

He smiled at her, "Hello sis."

* * *

"Rob," Carla said in shock, "What you doing here?"

"What not even a hello and hug for your little brother?" Rob joked.

"Carla stood up, hiding the pain in her back from her face. She stepped forward, "Hello Rob." She said as he pulled her in for a hug.

She tensed her muscles as he pulled her close, held her tightly, she was in so much pain it was unbelievable. Rob pulled away.

"Are you all right?" He asked, worried for his sister, it had been a couple of years since he saw her but he could tell something wasn't right, he just didn't know what.

"Yeah, course I am, I'm fine." Carla said, wanting to change the subject. She flashed her wedding ring at him, "Look who's married?" She laughed.

"Wow, again, what unlucky fella is it this time?" Rob joked. Carla hit him in mock anger. It felt so good to joke around like this, she hadn't joked around with anyone for ages.

"His name is Frank Foster, he's lovely." Carla said, cringing at the lie she had just told.

"I don't think you've described any of your fella's as lovely before, I've heard a lot of stuff, mainly 'good looking', but never lovely." Rob said.

"Well," Carla said, "That's what he is, lovely."

She turned away from Rob, attempting to stop a tear rolling down her cheek.

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	5. Investigate

**So, next chapter :) :P**

Investigate

Carla had given the girls the afternoon off and had spent it with Rob in town. He could tell there was something that his sister wasn't telling him but he wasn't too bothered about finding it out now.

"So." He said, as they were on their way home.

"So what?" Carla asked, wondering what her brother wanted now.

"Well, I'm gonna stay round here for a while now, so I was wondering whether you could put me up for a couple of days?" Rob asked, in his best innocent voice.

"No!" Carla explained, "I mean, I would but there's no space."

"I could always kip on the sofa, I'm not bothered." Rob suggested.

"No, you can't kip on the sofa, I'm sorry." Carla said. The car was silent for a few minutes as the siblings sat in silence.

Rob eventually started talking again. "Where will I go then?" He asked.

"I dunno, Michelle's or something." Carla said.

Rob was confused. A few moments ago his sister had been happy and joking about, but now, she had zoned out. They sat in silence for the rest of the journey home until Carla parked outside the flat.

"Chelle lives just down the road." She said, signalling in the vague direction with her hand.

"Yeah I know." Rob said, "Look, Carla, if there was something wrong, you would tell me wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, of course!" Carla said, plastering a smile on her face, "I am sorry, about you not being able to stay. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you." Rob said. As he hugged Carla he felt her tense up underneath him, as if he was hurting her.

"See you." She said again as she rushed into the flat, closing the door behind her.

* * *

Rob slowly wondered down the street, thinking about his sister. There was definitely something important going on that she wasn't telling him. He was determined to get to the bottom of it, whatever it took.

He ended up outside Michelles flat and rung the buzzer, he waited for a few moments until he heard a voice he recognised say, "Who is it?"

Rob smiled, "Guess who?"

"Rob!" Michelle exclaimed, "Come up!"

He walked up the stairs and opened the door, Michelle was waiting. She enveloped him in a hug which he returned.

"I never knew you were out of prison." Michelle said after they had exchanged greetings. They were know sitting on the sofa with cups of steaing tea in their hands.

"Yeah, got out last week." Rob said.

"Cool, have you seen Carla yet?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, married again! What do you think of him?" Rob asked.

"Frank, well, I don't know." Michelle said. "I came back just in time for the wedding, so I didn't meet him before them. I've met him a couple of times since then, but we haven't really had a proper conversation."

"Right." Rob said, the cogs in his mind whirring. There was something about this Frank guy, Michelle knew everyone, so what was so different about him and why wouldn't Carla say that much about him?

"What are you thinking?" Michelle said, "I recognise that expression and I don't like it, it means you're thinking seriously about something."

"Do you think I'm all bad?" Rob laughed, "I'm just going to do a little investigating on behalf of my sister."

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	6. Who is he

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Who is he

Carla sat on the sofa infront of the TV. She had Frank's dinner cooking in the oven and a bottle of beer in the fridge for him. She hoped she could put him in a good mood tonight so that she could avoid a beating, she didn't think she could cope anymore.

Carla knew that Rob being here would make it harder to hide what Frank was doing to her but she was determined to keep it a secret, so she would. Carla had always been good at hiding things, some of them she knew now that she should not have hid, but when she was younger she didn't think she needed help. It wasn't like she wasn't coping.

By the time she was 9 she was practically Rob's full time carer. He as 6 years old and every morning she would get him washed and dressed for school while their mum slept off another hangover.

If he ever needed to stay off school she would stay off with him to look after him, making her grades a lot lower than they should be. She wasn't stupid, if their mum was around she would've been near the top of her class, but she wasn't. Sometimes their mum would go away for a few days leaving them on their own. Carla had never left her little brother alone, not until she had a choice anyway.

When she was 16 and Rob was 13 their mum had a new boyfriend. He was a creep, Carla knew that as soon as she saw him. It was one night when he came into her room she realised just how creepy he was.

Nothing actually happened that night but Carla knew that it would if she stayed. She packed her few belongings into a bag and left the next day. She stayed with Michelle, Dean and of course little Ryan.

She still met up with Rob but she couldn't keep her eye on him like she'd used too and that was when he went off the rails and she could do nothing to stop him.

When she was 17 she started a relationship with Paul. His parents weren't exactly approving. They had always looked down on Carla because she lived on the estate with all the druggies. They thought she was leading Michelle astray and that when it came down to it, it was her fault Michelle had got pregnant at 15.

Rob came to the wedding 3 years later and that had been one of the last times she saw him, except when she visited him in prison and their mum's funeral.

She was so engulfed in her memories she hardly heard the door open and Frank walk in.

"Hello Carla." He said in that voice she hated so much.

"Hey Frank, I've got dinner cooking." She said, standing up and getting his can out the fridge.

"I can see that." He said, taking the can from Carla and popping open the lid.

They sat in silence until Frank suddenly said, "I saw you."

"Saw me where?" Carla asked, confused about what he was going on about.

"In town, with _him._" Frank snarled.

"It wasn't like that Frank. He's just my-" Carla said befroe being cut off by Frank pulling her head back by the hair.

"He's your what? Your boyfriend, your bit on the side, who is he?"

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	7. Brutal

**Next chapter :) :P**

**On my profile I've got a list of idea's for stories I MIGHT write so if you look and see oneyou really want me to do message me and I will do it before I do the others**

**Warning: This chapter has some of the abuse in detail so if you don't want to read it I would advise you to skip this chapter**

Brutal

Frank smashed the side of Carla's face into the table. "Who is he?" He spat.

"Frank he's-" Frank didn't let Carla finish as he smacked the side of her face into the table again.

"He's what?" Frank said in a venomous voice. He dragged her by the hair to the othe side of the kitchen, "You're a cold hearted woman Carla, I'm gonna give you a taste of your own medicine.

He dragged her into the bathroom, chucking her onto the cold hard floor. She let out a cry of agony as she landed on her already bruised arm.

"Frank, please." She said, looking up at him. Tears were streaming down her face and dropping onto the bathroom floor.

"Please what?" Frank hissed, dragging her up to the sink. "Forgive you? Maybe, after I make you feel like I felt."

He turned the tap on freezing cold and plunged Carla's face into the icy water. When he let her up she was gasping for breath. Her tears mixed with the freezing water on her skin. She managed to turn her face to look at Frank.

He ignored the desperation in her eyes as he smacked her across the cheek and plunged her face into the water, again. She could hardly breathe as he pulled her up a second time.

"Frank." She gasped "He-"

"He what? Tell me who he is Carla." Frank whispered into her face.

"He's my brother." Carla said, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Your brother?" Carla saw Frank recoil a bit before staring at her with the same evil expression. "I thought he was in prison."

"He was let out, last week!" Carla explained.

"I don't believe you." Frank spat, pushing her face under the water once more. This time smacking her head against the side of the sink.

When he pulled her out Carla was barely concious. He dropped her to the floor before storming out of the flat.

She manage dto pull herself towards the bathroom door. He whole body felt numb, tingly and ached painfully at the same time.

She felt really light headed and when she lifted her hand to the back of her head she saw bright red blood on her fingers. She tried to pull herself up but failed, falling painfully onto her leg.

She was in so much agony she couldn't take it any longer. She tried once more to get out the bathroom but couldn't do it. A sudden tingly feeling overtook her head and her vision clouded with black as she collapsed to the floor unconcious.

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	8. Broken

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Broken

Carla didn't know what the time was when she regained consciousness. Her whole body ached and whenever she moved a wave of agony wahed over her limbs.

She pulled herself up using the bathroom cabinet, her legs felt like jelly, like they would collapse any second. As she pulled herself along her hand brushed against a glass bottle, a glass bottle full of little white pills.

She picked them up and stared at them, they were the easy way out, it would be nice to just go to sleep and never wake up. She uncrewed the bottle and poured herslef a handful of pills.

She could just swallow these with some red wine and everything would be over. This hell she was going through everyday would be finished, she wouldn't have to live through another beating, ever.

Every second she stood there, using a cabinet to keep her standing up, the idea was becoming more and more appealing, Frank had broken her, physically and mentally.

* * *

Rob walked down the street with his hands in his pockets, deep in thought. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure that this Frank guy was bad news, and his sister was stuck in the midlle of it.

What he was going to do about it Rob didn't exactly know, first he had to find out exactly what Frank was doing, and what better way to do it than pay his siter and her husband a house visit.

He walked up to Carla's block of flats and rung the buzzer, there was no answer. The light was on in Carla's flat so she had to be in. He rung the buzzer again, still no answer.

He pushed the door and was surprised to find it open, someone must've forgot to close it properly when they went out. Rob made his way up the stair's until he got to Carla's flat.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it but no one did. He knocked again, louder this time, but still, no answer.

"Carla!" He called through the door. There was silence, suddenly he heard a huge smash.

* * *

Carla looked at the pills and glass scattered all over the floor, tears ran down her face uncontrollably, she didn't think they were ever going to stop.

She was going to do it, until she had heard Rob's voice, her little brother, half of her wanted to go and answer the door, to tell him about everything that was happening but she knew she never would.

When the two of them were younger they always use to say they would never be beaten. If she had swallowed those pills, she was admitting defeat, that was something she would never, ever do.

Whatever was happening to her, however much pain she was being put through, she would never admit defeat.

Carla shuffled out of the bathroom, "Carla!" She heard Rob yell again, this time he was starting to sound worried.

"What do you want?" She asked in as bright a voice as she could.

"What was that smash?" Rob asked, "And why wouldn't you let me in?"

"I was in the shower you idiot, and then when I heard the knocking I got out but slipped over." Carla explained, hoping that in sounded believable.

"Ok," Rob said, "You gonna let me in?"

"Just got out the shower, remember?" Carla said.

"Oh yeah," Rob said, "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Carla said before letting out a sigh.

She hated having to act like this, having to lie to everyone, even to Rob.

Carla made her way into her bedroom and caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her hair had dried messily and there was some died blood on her hair and cheek from the cut on the back of her head. She reached up to touch it and winced in pain as she touched the sticky red blood that had dried on the back of her head.

There was a bruise forming on her cheek where Frank had smashed her face into the table and her arm was covered in a huge bruise where she had been thrown to the floor.

She cried out in agony as she tried to straighten her arm, finding herself unable to do it. She was sure her arm was broken but she couldn't go to the hospital, because they would ask questions, questions she didn't want to answer.

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	9. Suspicion

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Suspicion

When Carla woke up she could feel Frank's heavy form wrapped around her. Her whole body was covered in a dull ache and she felt like going to sleep again but she knew she couldn't.

She peeled Frank's arm away from her chest and stood up. She limped towards the clothes she had laid out over a chair and slowly started to put them on, whenever she moved her arm and unimaginable wave of agony washed over her, bringing tears to her eyes.

When it came to her make up even she was surprised by the extent of her injuries, her whole cheek was a bruise that would no way be able to be fully covered by make up, she had washed most of the blood out of her hair the night before but as she brushed her hair she was still finding bunches of hair covered in blood.

When she tenderly inspected her arm she saw what shocked her the most, her skin had literally turned into a bruise, her pale skin turned black and purple by that monster.

She could hardly move her arm without being in pain and she was very tempted to just stay at home today, it would be easier than going into work and that way no one could see what Frank had done to her.

She knew she couldn't though, and after having one last look at herself in the mirror, convinced she had covered her injuries as much as she could, she started the quick walk to work.

* * *

Carla had kept her head down all day, not looking up in fear of someone noticing her bruised face. Her arm was in agony, it was her left arm so she could still write but any movement would make it ten times worse.

She looked up at the clock, it was 3pm, 2 more hours to go until the workers went home, and about 5 more hours until she was going home. She was going to spend as long as possible in the Factory, doing work that didn't need doing for weeks, she would do almost anything to avoid going home.

Carla looked at her arm, it had swollen up since the morning and she was getting a bit worried. She knew she should go up to the hospital and get it treated, and she would, but she was sure somewhere there would notice her other injuries and would realise the truth.

"Hey, how are you today?" Carla sighed as she heard Rob's voice.

Without turning round to face him she said, "Fine, what about you?"

"Good, what are you doing?" Rob asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Work, what do you think?" Carla snapped.

"No need to bite my head off, I was just asking?" Rob said.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I'm really busy so I'll talk to you later." Carla said.

"See you later then." Rob said, slowly walking out of the office. He turned to look at his sister and saw her looking his way, he also saw a huge bruise on her cheek.

Carla spun her head round, had Rob seen it, he hadn't, had he? If he had he would have been straight back in the office like a shot, wouldn't he? Carla decided to just push these thoughts out of her head, even if he had seen the bruise there was no way he could know that it was Frank that did it to her, was there?

* * *

Rob was propped up at the bar with Michelle and Ciaran but he wasn't really listening to their conversation, he was worried about carla. He had seen that bruise and was wondering where she got it.

It couldn't have been when she slipped over last night, could it? Rob wasn't even sure he believed his sister, he could usually tell when someone was lying but he always found it that bit harder with his sister, she had always been good at hiding her emotions, ever since they were kids.

Ciaran went somewhere leaving Rob and Michelle at the bar, he decided to ask her what she thought.

"Chelle, I went to see Carla at the factory today." Rob said.

"Yeah, and?" Michelle said.

"Well, she had this massive bruise on her face." Rob explained.

"Ouch, what did she do?" Michelle asked.

"I don't know, she had obviously tried to cover it with make up but you could still see it." Rob said.

"Did you ask her what she did?" Michelle said.

"No, we had a converstaion in the office when she wuldn't look at me, then when I was leaving I looked back and saw it." Rob said.

"I get that you're worried and stuff but, why are you telling me?" Michelle asked.

"Well, I was just thinking, you don't think that, nah, never mind." Rob sighed.

"I don't think what?" Michelle asked.

"You don't think Frank did it to her, do you?" Rob asked.

Michelle had to stop herself laughing.

"What's so funny?" Rob asked.

"Rob, we both know Carla, and she wouldn't ever let anyone knock her about, would she?" Michelle said.

"Nah, I guess not." Rob sighed, but he still had this suspicion that something was not right.

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	10. A face like thunder

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A face like thunder

When Carla woke up the next morning the bruise on her face was beginning to fade. She surprisingly had no new bruises as last night had been one of those once in a blue moon nights where she did nothing to make Frank angry.

Her arm, on the other hand, was not beginning to heal. It was completely swollen and looked a really wierd colour. It was kind of bent, and she couldn't move it.

She sighed as she proceeded to get dressed, trying to control her pain when she had to move her arm. Before she left she opened her draw and got her last remaining picture of Liam and Paul.

She held it to her chest for a moment, closing her eyes and drowning in the memories of the two brothers, the times they had shared together, the love they had shared. She quickly opened her eyes and carefully placed the picture at the bottom of the draw, making sure there was no way Frank could find it.

What she didn't realise was that Frank had one eye open, he had been watching her the whole time.

* * *

Rob sat at the computer, scrolling through the website's with a mention of Frank Foster on them. He had hardly been able to get any sleep and he had been sitting at the computer since six in the morning, searching for anything to prove that his suspicion of Frank was not just him being stupid.

"Morning Rob, want a coffee?" Rob heard a light irish accent ask.

"No thanks, had one already." Rob said, signalling his empty mug.

"What you looking at?" Ciaran asked looking over Rob's shoulder at the computer, "Frank Foster, why are you researching your sister's man?"

"There's something about him that's not right, I thought there might be something on here." Rob answered.

Rob carried on scrolling through the website's to see if he found anything interesting. He was starting to lose hope when he saw something that looked interesting, "Bingo." He said, sending the information he had just found to the printer.

* * *

Carla sat in the factory watching the seconds go past on the clock. She literally had no more paperwork to do so all she could do was watch the world go by.

An order needed to be sent out soon so everyone was actually working quite hard instead of gossiping for once. She turned round as she got a message on her phone, it was from Rob. _Hey, do you wanna come round later?_

Carla sighed before replying_, Sorry, I can't, Frank's got some romantic meal planned, sorry :(_

Rob chucked his phone down in frustration, why did his sister have to keep lying to him.

* * *

Carla sat in the office, only an hour until all the workers went home and she was on her own again. She heard the door's open and she heard someone walking quite quickly into the office. Her heart sank as she saw Frank behind her with a face like thunder.

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	11. Numb

**Thx for the reviews, this story is going to be finished in a few chapters...  
Warning-This chapter has some of the abuse in detail so if you dodn't want to read that kind of thing I advise you to skip this chapter.  
**

Numb

Rob sat in the Rovers with Michelle, "You know what I was talking about yesterday." Rob started.

"Yes," Michelle sighed "I told you that you were being very stupid."

"Well have a look at this." Rob said, handing Michelle the paper he had printed out earlier. Michelle read it and Rob could see the worry start creeping across her face.

"Well, um, this was 6 years ago, and the court said he wasn't guilty." Michelle said, not wanting to believe that Frank would do anything to Carla.

"But Chelle!" Rob exclaimed, pointing at some writing on the paper, "It say's that the girl, his girlfriend, kept getting bruises and injuries that she told everyone was nothing, she was distancing herself from her friend's and family. Does that not sound like exactly what Carla's doing?"

Michelle looked really uncomfortable now, "But, if he is, beating her up, why hasn't she told anyone?" She asked.

"I dunno, do I!" Rob exclaimed, "She's too scared or something!"

"We've got to go see her." Michelle said, standing up only to be pulled down by Rob again.

"She's working, if we get her on her own in your house or something it will be easier to get her to admit it." Rob said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Michelle sighed, downing the rest of her wine, "I just can't believe that Carla would let this happen to her."

* * *

"Hey Frank, what are you doing here?" Carla asked, putting a fake smile on her face even though her heart felt like it was goinf to explode.

"Send them home." Frank ordered, signalling to the worker's, who were looking on intensely having seen how angry Frank looked.

"Frank, they're working, we've got to get an order out." Carla argued, knowing that if they were there she would be safe, for now.

"Send them home." Frank ordered again, taking a step towards Carla so that she could feel his breath on her face, his evil eyes staring into her own terrified ones.

Carla obliged, leaving her office, "Right, you can have the rest of the day off, and yes, you will be paid for a full day." She told them all. She watched them all happily grabbing their bags and coats and talking about going to the rovers with a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was just her and Frank now, alone.

She took a deep breath before going back into the office, "What's wrong?" She asked.

Frank pulled something out of his pocket, a picture of Paul and Liam, "I told you to get rid of everything." He snarled, launching himself at Carla and pinning her up against the wall.

* * *

"Why have you all left early?" Michelle asked Sean, who had just come into the rovers with the factory girls.

"Carla sent us home, Frank came in and he didn't look very happy." Sean answered.

Michelle looked at Rob, and they both knewthat they were thinking the exact same thing. "Thanks Sean." Michelle said as she and Rob sped out of the pub and headed towards the factory.

* * *

Carla cried in agony as Frank held her broken arm tight against the wall.

"I told you that you had to get rid of everything, you told me you had, but you lied." Frank spat in Carla's face.

"I-I didn't know it ws there, I swear." Carla cried.

Frank smacked her across the face, "Liar." He hissed in a venomous voice. Frank pulled Carla off the wall and threw her to the floor, her head catching the corner of her desk as she went down. When she looked up there was a deep cut on her forehead and blood was starting to drip over her eye.

He pulled her up before smashing her face into the wall a few times. Carla was starting to feel very dizzy and she fell to the floor. She was starting to go numb as Frank started kicking her in the stomach, she curled up in a ball, attempting to protect herself from this attack.

Carla didn't understand what was happening when Frank stopped attacking her but she could still hear him yelling, she could hear two people yelling, Rob was here. She saw Michelle crouch down next to her and talk to her but she couldn't understand what she was saying.

He eyes flickered a few times as she attempted to keep then open but it was no use as black overtook her vision.

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	12. Still and silent

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Still and silent

Carla was confused, it was like she was awake but she wasn't. She could just about hear what was going on around her but she couldn't open her eyes for more than a few seconds before they closed again.

She could hear lots of yelling, by both Rob and Frank, and she could hear Michelle next to her, saying something, but she couldn't quite make out exactly what it was.

Everything went quiet and Carla forced her eyes open to see what was going on. Rob was standing over Frank, who was lying in a bloody mess on the floor.

"Carla, Carla!" She heard Michelle shout, "You need to stay awake till the ambulance gets here, stay awake!"

Carla tried to stay awake, she really did, but she knew it was no use, her eyes flickered and closed.

* * *

"Carla, Carla!" Michelle yelled before turning to Rob with tears in her eyes. "She won't wake up, Rob, she won't wake up!"

Rob was at her side in an instance, "Come on Car, wake up." He whispered. He heard a movement behind him and shot his head round to see Frank pulling himself up off the floor.

Rob grabbed his collar and pushed him up against the wall, "Not such a big man now, are you?" He spat as Frank struggled in his grip, "If anything else happens to her, you are dead, you hear me? You are dead!" Rob dropped him to the ground when he heard sirens coming towards the factory.

"Chelle, go get them quick." Rob ordered. Michelle nodded and rushed outside. The paramedics had jumped out of the ambulance with their equipment.

"Where?" One of them asked.

"In the office." Michelle said, showing them the way, hoping that they had got there in time.

* * *

Carla had been rushed straight to hospital, the paramedics hadn't said much, only that she had been put straight inot intensive care so that the doctors could run some tests.

Frank was also in the hospital, recovering from the injuries that Rob had inflicted onto him. He was also under 24 hour supervision from the police, and when he was allowed out of hospital he would be hoing straight up to the police station.

That was one bit of good news for Michelle and Rob, who had been waiting all night for news on Carla but had found out nothing. Michelle had told Ciaran to tell the factory workers that Carla was in hospital but not why, and definitely not what Frank had done to her, she would hate that.

A doctor walked towards them, "Are you here for Carla Connor?" He asked.

"Yeah, is she alright?" Rob asked.

"I'm afraid that the injuries that have been inflicted to Carla are severe, she has 3 broken ribs and her left arm had been broken and was starting to heal wrong so we had to rebreak it and put it in a cast, there were also some injuries to her head which are especially bad and have caused her to fall into a coma." The doctor explained.

"What are her chances, of waking up?" Rob asked.

"I'm afraid we don't know yet, the next 24 hours will be crucial. Carla also has some swelling to the brain, so even if she does wake up, we don't know if she'll have any permanent damage." The doctor answered.

"Can we see her?" Michelle asked.

"Yes, she may be able to hear you if you talk to her, it might help." The doctor said.

"Ok, come on Rob." Michelle said walking to Carla's room. Both of them were shocked by what they saw.

Carla's cheek was covered in a bruise, black bags were clearly visible underneath her eyes and her left arm was in a cast. Her bare right arm was covered in bruises all shapes and sizes. She was hooked up to all sorts of machines that were making loads of weird sounds and showing weird pictures. She looked, weak, broken, the opposite of the normal, fiesty Carla they knew.

"Hey Carla." Michelle said, choking on her words.

"Yeah, hey." Rob said, it felt weird, talking to Carla when she was like this, when she wasn't responding, when she wasn't showing any signs of hearing them.

Michelle went and sat down next to the hospital bed and Rob followed. "We have good news, don't we Rob." Michelle said.

"Yeah, we do, guess what? Frank's been arrested, well he's in hospital at the moment but he's under police supervision." Rob said.

"It's great Carla, he's gonna be gone and you'll never have to see him again." Michelle said, smiling even though a tear was rolling down her cheek, she hated seeing her best friend like this.

Carla stayed totally still, totally silent. Suddenly one of the machines started beeping and a bunch of nurses rushed into the room.

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	13. Wake up

**SO sorry for not updating...**

Wake up

Michelle sat in the waiting room, tears streaming down her face, Rob wanted to comfort her, but he didn't know how. It had been about 15 minutes since they had been forced out of the room by the doctors, they had been told to wait, that they would tell them if anything happened.

Suddenly Michelle spoke, "She's dead, isn't she?"

Rob sat down next to her, putting an arm over her shoulders, "Don't say that Chelle, please don't."

"But, why haven't they told us anything, it's been ages Rob, why aren't they telling us anything?" Michelle sobbed.

"I don't know Chelle, but I'll tell you one thing, there is no way Carla is dead, you hear me, no way." Rob said, he jumped up as the doctor came back.

"Is she all right?" Michelle asked, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"We have managed to resuscitate her, but I'm afraid the chances of her waking up have fallen, she has maybe a 20% chance, if that, of waking up." The doctor explained solemnly.

"Oh god!" Michelle gasped, Rob pulled her into a hug as she cried into his shirt. Rob was fighting back tears too, he didn't want to think about what life would be like without Carla. It wasn't that long ago he had found her but it already felt like forever, she couldn't die, he wouldn't let her.

"Should we go and see her?" Rob asked gently.

Michelle nodded, tears still rolling down her face. As they re-entered the hospital room everything looked exactly the same. Carla was still hooked up to all sorts of machines and she was still covered in bruises, she still looked like she was sleeping and wasn't planning on waking up.

Michelle took a seat next to the bed and held Carla's hand in her own, she didn't know what to say. "Carla please wake up, please! You-you can't die, not now, you have to get better, you have to! Just wake up, please." Michelle stopped talking as more tears fell down her cheeks, she didn't know what she would do if Carla died, they had been best friends since, well, since forever, Michelle could hardly imagine her life without Carla in it.

* * *

Rob didn't know how long he and Michelle had been in that hospital room, it had been at least 4 hours. Michelle had fallen asleep on the chair, so it was just him, watching his sister, praying for her to wake up.

Rob wasn't stupid, he knew that with each hour that passed the chances of Carla waking up were becoming less and less, but he couldn't give up on her yet, he just couldn't.

He was holding one of Carla's hands, he hadn't talked to her yet, he hadn't wanted Michelle to hear what he had to say, but now she was asleep he would tell Carla exactly what was on his mind.

"Carla, you can't die, you just can't! If you died I wouldn't know what to do, how am I supposed to live without you, my big sister, keeping me out of trouble. You don't know how many times I moaned about you to my mates when I was younger, But deep down I loved you, and would never have let anything happen to you. I just can't believe that I didn't notice something was wrong right away, I knew you were acting a bit off but, this! I just can't believe I didn't notice, I didn't help, and if you do die, I would never be able to forgive myself because, I should've been here for you, I should always have been here for you."

Only then did Rob let a tear slide out of his eye.

That was when he felt Carla's hand squeeze his own.

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	14. On the front page

**Thx for the reviews :) :P Not too many chapters to go, 2-3 after this one...**

On the front page

It had been a week since Carla had started to regain consciousness and she was getting better and better each day. The doctor said she could probably go home tomorrow, but she had to keep it easy, which meant no running buisnesses for at least another week.

Rob and Michelle had been running the factory in her absence, and had done a pretty good job of it as they had modestly told her. They had told everyone that she had been mugged and left in a coma, and no one had questioned it, or they had, just hadn't aired their views to Rob, Michelle or Ciaran.

Carla had been given what seemed like hundreds of 'get well soon' cards and boxes of chocolates and flowers, the whole room seemed full of them. 'The perks of being a factory owner who's staff wouldn't mind a pay rise' as Rob had so nicely put it.

Carla smiled as Michelle and Ciaran came into the room, but stopped as they saw the worried expressions on their faces. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"Well, um, well-" Michelle started.

"What?" Carla interrupted.

Michelle handed her the copy of 'The Weatherfield Gazette' and Carla felt her heart skip a beat as she read the headline.

* * *

**LOCAL FACTORY BOSS LEFT IN COMA BY ABUSIVE HUSBAND  
**Carla Foster, boss of underwear factory Underworld, left in coma by husband, Frank Foster, after suffering months of abuse

Last week Carla Foster was fighting for her life, unlikely to wake up from the coma she was in, after husband Frank Foster inflicted life threatening injuries to her head.

Carla Foster had been suffering months of abuse, starting the night before her wedding to Frank Foster, when he violently raped her after she told him she no longer wanted to marry him.

She was too scared to leave him, instead getting married to him and suffering months of abuse at his hands. She told no one of the abuse, but suspicions were aroused when younger brother, Rob Donavon, came to find her after being released from Strangeway's prison, having served 8 years for armed robbery.

He told police "I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw her, I was determined to get to the bottom of it, but I can say that I never expected it to be that."

_Read more on pages 5-6_

* * *

Carla threw the newspaper down onto her bed, a sick feeling deep in her stomach. Everyone would now know what had happened to her, how would she face them.

"How did they find out?" Carla asked.

"I don't know, Rob's fuming though, he's up at the police station now, trying to get to the bottom of it." Michelle explained.

"I don't see why," Carla sighed, "It's not as if they can un-publish the newspaper."

"It'll be all right." Michelle said, trying to offer a bit of comfort to her best friend.

"How?" Carla asked sadly, "Everyone knows, how am I supposed to face them Chelle? They'll all pity me, won't let me forget, coz that's all I want to do, forget all of this."

"I know," Michelle sighed, "But you and I both know that will never happen, it's , everyone knowing could make it easier to get over it?" She suggested.

Carla let out an angry laugh, "How exactly will that help?" She asked angrily, "Tell me how Chelle, coz I can't see it."

"I don't know," Michelle reasoned, "I never said it would, I said it might."

"Look, just go." Carla sighed.

"Carla!" Michelle argued.

"I said go, Chelle!" Carla sighed, louder this time.

"Come on love, we'll come back later." Ciaran said, shoving Michelle out of the hospital room.

Carla picked the newspaper up, preparing herself to read what was inside.

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	15. Bad memories

**Thx for the reviews, 3 chapters (including this one) left :) :P**

Bad memories

Carla made her way up to her flat as fats as she could, hoping she wouldn't see anyone and have to face their intrested stares and words that mean absolutely nothing.

Michelle and Rob were with her. That morning when they had come to collect her and bring her home, they had told her that everyone was wishing her well, and wanted to see her soon.

Carla hadn't wanted to hear it though, she had just wanted to come back to her flat and hide. Hide from everyone, hide from the questions and the looks. The looks of pity mixed with curiosity, becuase that's what they were, curious. Yeah, they wanted to make sure she was all right but they also wanted all the gory details, Carla knew them way too well.

She pushed the key into the lock and entered the flat, it was exactly the same as it had been when she left it two weeks ago, it didn't feel like two weeks though, it felt so much longer, like she hadn't been here in years.

When Frank was here she didn't have time to think about what he was doing to her, she would always be worried about what he would do next, not what he had done.

But now he wasn't here, she would look at something and remember what he had done to her. The table, the cupboards, the door. Carla swallowed, it suddenly all seemed so real, he was gone, but the memories weren't, the bad memories that had been plaguing her dreams at the hospital, that would be plaguing her dreams here.

"You all right?" Michelle asked softly, standing at Carla's side.

"Yeah, skipping and dancing." Carla said sarcastically.

"It'll be fine." Michelle said, hoping that it would be.

"Yeah, maybe." Carla sighed. She flooped down on to the sofa, about to turn the TV on when she thought of something. She made her way into the bedroom and looked. All his stuff was still here, 'time to change that', she thought, making her way to the kitchen and grabbing a bin bag.

"What are you doing?" Rob asked.

"Getting rid of him." Carla answered, going back into the bedroom.

She flung open the wardrobe and pulled all of his clothes out, stuffing them into the bin bag, and then moving on to the draws. Soon everything that belonged to him, or he bought or he used was in one of three bursting black bin bags.

After a final check she found the wedding dress, her wedding dress, which she got married to him in. Pulling it off the hanger she grabbed some scissors and started cutting away at the material until it was in shreds, she stuffed the remains into one of the bags and picked up a box of matches from the side and a bottle of beer from the fridge.

Grabbing the bags she opened the door to the flat and made her way on to the street.

"Carla, what are you doing?" Michelle asked.

Carla didn't answer, just chucked the bags on to the cobbles and pulling out the beer.

"Carla." Rob sighed.

She opened the bottle and poured it over the bags before ligthing a match and chucking it onto the bags. They burst into flame and Carla just stood there, staring at the flames which danced about.

Suddenly she turned round and ran back to her flat, tears streaming down her face. She didn't know why she was crying, he was gone, he was going to be shut up for years and she would never have to see him again. He was out of her life, forever.

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	16. Court

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Court

Carla straightened out her skirt in the mirror, making sure she looked presentable. It was Frank's trial today and she was feeling more nervous than she thought possible.

She heard a quiet knock on the door and Rob call, "Are you ready yet?"

Rob had been staying with her in the week since she had got out of hospital, in case she needed any help or anything, and Carla was glad of the company. She hadn't really been out of the flat, she still didn't feel ready to face the looks that people would throw at her, but today she would have to face them.

"Carla?" Rob called again.

"Yeah, I'm ready." She said, taking a deep breath as she opened the door and stepped into the room where Rob, Michelle and Ciaran were waiting. Without saying a word they made their way to the door, ready to put Frank where he belonged.

* * *

Michelle, Rob and Carla obviously were all giving evidence, they were all doing going to do anything they could to get Frank put away for as long as possible.

Carla let out a fustrated sigh as she saw Norris and Mary outside the court building, both of them holding a bag of sweets, they were both so nosey, neither of them knew when they were going too far.

Throughout all of the court case they would be whispering to eachother about if they thought someone was guilty or not or if someone was lying. Carla had seen it all before.

She turned to Michelle as they noticed she was here and came rushing over. Carla could've laughed if she wasn't so worried when Rob just gave them 'the look'. Rob was very good at 'the look', he could usually intimidate people by just looking at them, that was one of the good things about having Rob as a brother.

"You ready?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be." Carla sighed. Then the four of them made their way into the building.

* * *

"Frank Foster, you will be sentenced to 8 years in prison, take him down." Carla felt a wave of relief wash over her whn she heard those words, 8 years, he was officially gone.

Michelle turned to her with a big smile which Carla returned. That smile was one of the first real smiles Carla had let cross her face since she had got out of hospital.

"We going?" Rob asked, a big smile on his face.

"Yeah." Carla smiled.

"So, we going to celebrate?" Ciaran asked.

Carla thought for a moment, "Yeah," She said, "Time I started showing my face again."

* * *

Carla made her way too the bar, ignoring the fact that people were looking at her, it didn't matter now, Frank was gone, that was all that mattered.

"What do you want?" Rob asked.

"Do you really need to ask?" Carla sighed.

"Hey Stella, 2 pints and two red wines please." Rob said.

"Celebrating are we?" Stella asked.

Rob smiled, "He got 8 years."

"That's great news." Stella said.

"I know." Rob said.

The four of them sat in one of the booths.

"I think I'll be back at work on Monday." Carla said.

"So our services won't be needed anymore." Rob said, gesturing to Michelle.

"Quite the contrary," Carla said, "How do you guy's want to stay on?"

"Are you serious?" Michelle smiled.

"Yeah, well sometimes all that paperwork got a bit too much for one girl." Carla sighed, "That's one thing I didn't miss, the paperwork."

**So, Only the epilogue to go now, plz review :) :P**


	17. Epilogue

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Epilogue

"Right girls, you've done good so far, so why don't you go for an early lunch break?" Carla suggested.

"Thanks Mrs Connor." Beth said, followed by the rest of the girls. They were soon all gone and Carla was left alone in the factroy, well almost alone, she had Rob and Michelle with her.

It had been 6 months since Frank had been put down and everyday had been better and better. She had ended up selling the flat, unable to keep going with the memories that were held inside it's walls.

She had moved into a smaller flat, closer to Michelle's, and Rob had also lived with her to begin with, but when she got better, he had moved out, and was now living in a flat about ten minutes away.

Carla made her way back into the officed and collapsed into her chair, closing her eyes and letting a small smile flicker across her face.

"Why are you being the nicest factory boss around?" Michelle asked.

"Sweetening them up." Said Carla.

"For what?" Rob asked.

"Well, we have a massive order, which will probably mean that our workers will have to do a bit of overtime, and they can't really say no when I've been being so very nice." Carla smiled.

Michelle shook her head, "You and I both know that they won't fall for that."

"Oh, but they will," Carla said,"When I play my final card."

"Which is what?" Rob asked.

"What do you think?" Carla sighed, "Money!"

"Obviously." Michelle laughed.

Soon all three of them were in fits of laughter, and anyone looking at the scene would never have guessed about the stresses that they had been through in the last year, especially Carla, who had come out the other end a lot stronger than she had been before, and, just as pretty.

**So, that's it, please review and yeah, thank you for reading :) :P**


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